hbo go

I’ve had some time to adjust to life without cable and I think I’m finally ready to put thought to keyboard. Almost a month ago Dayle and I came to the conclusion that we watch far too much television without actually watching television. Somewhere between my checking twitter on my iPad and her reading on her Kindle – all of this while Chopped was on in the background – we realized enough was enough. I had had plenty of conversations with friends and colleagues about “cutting the cord” but up until that moment the idea of putting that theory in to practice was not something I had seriously entertained. A few hours later and some mild spreadsheeting to confirm – I was convinced this was something worth pursuing. Logistically, this could work.

Cutting the cord works for us logistically because we spend most of our time watching shows off the DVR. We watch Jimmy Fallon the day after it airs. We tape Modern Family and the Thursday night lineup on NBC and watch it later because our jobs and commute leave us with enough energy to make dinner and not much else. Watching live television basically boiled down to Football and Hockey – more on that in a few sentences. Outside of the DVR our media came from a handful of familiar streaming services: Netflix, Amazon and HBO Go. If you add in Hulu Plus, Roku offers the ability to consume all of those streaming services through one handy device.

Simply put: Google Reader : RSS :: Roku : Streaming Television Services. Rather than go to each service individually through an iPad or Xbox or through your laptop’s HDMI output, Roku functions as a central hub for all your streaming needs. After a few minutes of configuration and account verification, you are ready to watch all your favorite programs online. Legally.